Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers have crossed a robotic arm with the bottom half of a Segway to make a robot named Cardea that can traverse hallways and push open doors.
...
Cardea consists of the Segway base, sonar sensors that help in navigation, a pair of cameras that form a rudimentary vision system, and a single arm capable of five degrees of freedom -- two at the shoulder, one at the elbow, and two at the wrist. It also has a kickstand.

http://www.ai.mit.edu/projects/cardea - Cardea Homepage

Technology Review: Segway Robot Opens Doors

Microsoft may have to fork up big bounty bucks trying to unearth future hackers, particularly when they are light years away on distant worlds.

Add one more worry to the computerized world of the 21st century. Could a signal from the stars broadcast by an alien intelligence also carry harmful information, in the spirit of a computer virus? Could star folk launch a "disinformation" campaign -- one that covers up aspects of their culture? Perhaps they might even mask the "real" intent of dispatching a message to other civilizations scattered throughout the Cosmos.

These are concerns that deserve attention explains Richard Carrigan, Jr., a physicist at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Batavia, Illinois. Those engaged in the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI), he contends, should think about decontaminating potential SETI signals.

Keeping Watch for Interstellar Computer Viruses

X2 on the 2nd, Matrix Reloaded on the 16th... but June 20th is the date that I'm waiting for... HULK SMASH PUNY SEQUELS!!

Hulk

"Built for a game of Cthulhu Lives! that has yet to be played, this piece was inspired by the retro-futuristic machines in the movie Brazil by Terry Gilliam. It was one of the most difficult and time-consuming pieces I've ever attempted.

"Despite the ridiculous amount of abuse I subjected it to, and despite the fact that all its components are now exposed to the air, the 1988 Macintosh SE which forms the heart of this piece still works just fine. "

The ElectriClerk

"On April 7, 2003 in a world created by Osamu Tezuke, Astro Boy, a robot with the heart of a man, is born.

"The day is here/

"Exactly how close has time been able to catch up with Astro Boy?"

ROBODEX 2003

logickal wrote:

] I'm currently adding to my list of things to add to my library
] in 03, and am accepting suggestions and recommendations. Got
] any?

I just finished Rucker's "Spaceland". Good 4-D fun!

Book Recommendation (was RE: Pattern Recognition, by William Gibson)

Mmmmmm, 17" Powerbooks. With backlit keyboard, no less!

Apple - PowerBook G4 17

*sigh* I read the script for this several months ago, and I really don't think I'm going to make it until next fall to see it.

Kill Bill - The 4th film by Quentin Tarantino

Kaiju Big Battel is a modern conflict of epic proportions. Unbeknownst to most humans, planet Earth is under threat. Scattered throughout the galaxy is a monstrous mob of maniacal villains, menacing alien beasts, and giant, city-crushing monsters that are waging war against one another, their flared tempers and petty disagreements erupting into bouts of intergalactic fighting and senseless acts of violence. Presiding over this mayhem is the Kaiju Commissioner, an enigmatic human-arbiter appointed by a clandestine cadre of world leaders to regulate Kaiju rage. If the Kaiju Commissioner doesn't do his job - or if civilization isn't careful - the entire world could get caught in the crossfire.

Kaiju Big Battel!!!